Author: C. W. Marshall
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474255086
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Libation Bearers is the 'middle' play in the only extant tragic trilogy to survive from antiquity, Aeschylus' Oresteia, first produced in 458 BCE. This introduction to the play will be useful for anyone reading it in Greek or in translation. Drawing on his wide experience teaching about performance in the ancient world, C. W. Marshall helps readers understand how the play was experienced by its ancient audience. His discussion explores the impact of the chorus, the characters, theology, and the play's apparent affinities with comedy. The architecture of choral songs is described in detail. The book also investigates the role of revenge in Athenian society and the problematic nature of Orestes' matricide. Libation Bearers immediately entered the Athenian visual imagination, influencing artistic depictions on red-figured vases, and inspiring plays by Euripides and Sophocles. This study looks to the later plays to show how 5th-century audiences understood Libation Bearers. Modern reception of the play is integrated into the analysis. The volume includes a full range of ancillary material, providing a list of relevant red-figure vase illustrations, a glossary of technical terms, and a chronology of ancient and modern theatrical versions.
Aeschylus: Libation Bearers
Author: C. W. Marshall
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474255086
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Libation Bearers is the 'middle' play in the only extant tragic trilogy to survive from antiquity, Aeschylus' Oresteia, first produced in 458 BCE. This introduction to the play will be useful for anyone reading it in Greek or in translation. Drawing on his wide experience teaching about performance in the ancient world, C. W. Marshall helps readers understand how the play was experienced by its ancient audience. His discussion explores the impact of the chorus, the characters, theology, and the play's apparent affinities with comedy. The architecture of choral songs is described in detail. The book also investigates the role of revenge in Athenian society and the problematic nature of Orestes' matricide. Libation Bearers immediately entered the Athenian visual imagination, influencing artistic depictions on red-figured vases, and inspiring plays by Euripides and Sophocles. This study looks to the later plays to show how 5th-century audiences understood Libation Bearers. Modern reception of the play is integrated into the analysis. The volume includes a full range of ancillary material, providing a list of relevant red-figure vase illustrations, a glossary of technical terms, and a chronology of ancient and modern theatrical versions.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474255086
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Libation Bearers is the 'middle' play in the only extant tragic trilogy to survive from antiquity, Aeschylus' Oresteia, first produced in 458 BCE. This introduction to the play will be useful for anyone reading it in Greek or in translation. Drawing on his wide experience teaching about performance in the ancient world, C. W. Marshall helps readers understand how the play was experienced by its ancient audience. His discussion explores the impact of the chorus, the characters, theology, and the play's apparent affinities with comedy. The architecture of choral songs is described in detail. The book also investigates the role of revenge in Athenian society and the problematic nature of Orestes' matricide. Libation Bearers immediately entered the Athenian visual imagination, influencing artistic depictions on red-figured vases, and inspiring plays by Euripides and Sophocles. This study looks to the later plays to show how 5th-century audiences understood Libation Bearers. Modern reception of the play is integrated into the analysis. The volume includes a full range of ancillary material, providing a list of relevant red-figure vase illustrations, a glossary of technical terms, and a chronology of ancient and modern theatrical versions.
The Length of the Prologue of Aeschylus’s Choephori
Author: Andrew Lyon Brown
Publisher: Skenè. Texts and Studies
ISBN: 8896419697
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 109
Book Description
A sequence of 12 pages was torn at an early date from the one medieval manuscript (known as M) on which our knowledge of Aeschylus’s Choephori (Libation Bearers) depends. This sequence contained the end of the previous play Agamemnon, which is preserved in three later manuscripts, and the beginning of the Prologue of Choephori. The current study seeks to determine as accurately as possible the number of missing lines, taking into account the length of the pages in a particular quire of M and the space that would have been occupied by the last part of Agamemnon and by any material occurring between the texts of the two plays. From all this it is calculated that the number of lines of Choephori missing from M was probably in the range 36 to 53 and very probably in the range 32 to 55. Even the lowest of these figures is higher than previous estimates. The study concludes by considering what the missing portion could have contained. Some fragments are quoted by other authors and these may have been clustered at the beginning of the Prologue, but it is possible to imagine plenty of material that could have occupied the gap between the last of these fragments and the first surviving line in M.
Publisher: Skenè. Texts and Studies
ISBN: 8896419697
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 109
Book Description
A sequence of 12 pages was torn at an early date from the one medieval manuscript (known as M) on which our knowledge of Aeschylus’s Choephori (Libation Bearers) depends. This sequence contained the end of the previous play Agamemnon, which is preserved in three later manuscripts, and the beginning of the Prologue of Choephori. The current study seeks to determine as accurately as possible the number of missing lines, taking into account the length of the pages in a particular quire of M and the space that would have been occupied by the last part of Agamemnon and by any material occurring between the texts of the two plays. From all this it is calculated that the number of lines of Choephori missing from M was probably in the range 36 to 53 and very probably in the range 32 to 55. Even the lowest of these figures is higher than previous estimates. The study concludes by considering what the missing portion could have contained. Some fragments are quoted by other authors and these may have been clustered at the beginning of the Prologue, but it is possible to imagine plenty of material that could have occupied the gap between the last of these fragments and the first surviving line in M.
The Choephori
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781534673533
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
The Choephori - The Libation Bearers - Aeschylus The Libation Bearers is the second play of the Oresteia. It deals with the reunion of Agamemnon's children, Electra and Orestes, and their revenge. Orestes kills Clytemnestra to avenge the death of Agamemnon, Orestes' father. Storyline Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort "to ward off harm" (l.42). Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity. Now, in the longest and most structurally complex lyric passage in extant Greek tragedy, the chorus, Orestes, and Electra, attempt to conjure the departed spirit of Agamemnon to aid them in revenging his murder. Orestes then asks "why she sent libations, what calculation led her to offer too late atonement for a hurt past cure" (l.515-516). The chorus responds that in the palace of Argos Clytemnestra was roused from slumber by a nightmare: she dreamt that she gave birth to a snake, and the snake now feeds from her breast and draws blood along with milk. Alarmed by this, a possible sign of the gods' wrath, she "sent these funeral libations" (l.538). Orestes believes that he is the snake in his mother's dream, so together with Electra they plan to avenge their father by killing their mother Clytemnestra and her new husband, Aegisthus.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781534673533
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
The Choephori - The Libation Bearers - Aeschylus The Libation Bearers is the second play of the Oresteia. It deals with the reunion of Agamemnon's children, Electra and Orestes, and their revenge. Orestes kills Clytemnestra to avenge the death of Agamemnon, Orestes' father. Storyline Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort "to ward off harm" (l.42). Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity. Now, in the longest and most structurally complex lyric passage in extant Greek tragedy, the chorus, Orestes, and Electra, attempt to conjure the departed spirit of Agamemnon to aid them in revenging his murder. Orestes then asks "why she sent libations, what calculation led her to offer too late atonement for a hurt past cure" (l.515-516). The chorus responds that in the palace of Argos Clytemnestra was roused from slumber by a nightmare: she dreamt that she gave birth to a snake, and the snake now feeds from her breast and draws blood along with milk. Alarmed by this, a possible sign of the gods' wrath, she "sent these funeral libations" (l.538). Orestes believes that he is the snake in his mother's dream, so together with Electra they plan to avenge their father by killing their mother Clytemnestra and her new husband, Aegisthus.
The Agamemnon of Aeschylus
Author: David Raeburn
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191619809
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
This commentary discusses Aeschylus' play Agamemnon (458 BC), which is one of the most popular of the surviving ancient Greek tragedies, and is the first to be published in English since 1958. It is designed particularly to help students who are tackling Aeschylus in the original Greek for the first time, and includes a reprint of D. L. Page's Oxford Classical Text of the play. The introduction defines the place of Agamemnon within the Oresteia trilogy as a whole, and the historical context in which the plays were produced. It discusses Aeschylus' handling of the traditional myth and the main ideas which underpin his overall design: such as the development of justice and the nature of human responsibility; and it emphasizes how the power of words, seen as ominous speech-acts which can determine future events, makes a central contribution to the play's dramatic momentum. Separate sections explore Aeschylus' use of theatrical resources, the role of the chorus, and the solo characters. Finally there is an analysis of Aeschylus' distinctive poetic style and use of imagery, and an outline of the transmission of the play from 458 BC to the first printed editions.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191619809
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
This commentary discusses Aeschylus' play Agamemnon (458 BC), which is one of the most popular of the surviving ancient Greek tragedies, and is the first to be published in English since 1958. It is designed particularly to help students who are tackling Aeschylus in the original Greek for the first time, and includes a reprint of D. L. Page's Oxford Classical Text of the play. The introduction defines the place of Agamemnon within the Oresteia trilogy as a whole, and the historical context in which the plays were produced. It discusses Aeschylus' handling of the traditional myth and the main ideas which underpin his overall design: such as the development of justice and the nature of human responsibility; and it emphasizes how the power of words, seen as ominous speech-acts which can determine future events, makes a central contribution to the play's dramatic momentum. Separate sections explore Aeschylus' use of theatrical resources, the role of the chorus, and the solo characters. Finally there is an analysis of Aeschylus' distinctive poetic style and use of imagery, and an outline of the transmission of the play from 458 BC to the first printed editions.
Oresteia
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192832818
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
For those interested in Greek tragedy and classical literature, this volume is a new translation of three plays and is designed to make the author's original words intelligible and meaningful to modern readers.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192832818
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
For those interested in Greek tragedy and classical literature, this volume is a new translation of three plays and is designed to make the author's original words intelligible and meaningful to modern readers.
The Choephori
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electra (Greek mythology)
Languages : en
Pages : 440
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electra (Greek mythology)
Languages : en
Pages : 440
Book Description
Aeschylus: Persians and Other Plays
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198149689
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
An accurate and readable new translation, with introduction, extensive explanatory notes, and up-to-date bibliography, of four of Aeschylus' plays, including the unique historical tragedy Persians and the hugely influential Prometheus Bound.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198149689
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
An accurate and readable new translation, with introduction, extensive explanatory notes, and up-to-date bibliography, of four of Aeschylus' plays, including the unique historical tragedy Persians and the hugely influential Prometheus Bound.
The Choephori
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electra (Greek mythology)
Languages : en
Pages : 438
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electra (Greek mythology)
Languages : en
Pages : 438
Book Description
Aeschylus
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher: Loeb Classical Library
ISBN:
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 390
Book Description
Aeschylus (ca. 525-456 BCE), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens and fought against the Persians at Marathon. He won the tragic prize at the City Dionysia thirteen times between ca. 499 and 458, and in his later years was probably victorious almost every time he put on a production, though Sophocles beat him at least once. Of his total of about eighty plays, seven survive complete. The third volume of this edition collects all the major fragments of lost Aeschylean plays.
Publisher: Loeb Classical Library
ISBN:
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 390
Book Description
Aeschylus (ca. 525-456 BCE), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens and fought against the Persians at Marathon. He won the tragic prize at the City Dionysia thirteen times between ca. 499 and 458, and in his later years was probably victorious almost every time he put on a production, though Sophocles beat him at least once. Of his total of about eighty plays, seven survive complete. The third volume of this edition collects all the major fragments of lost Aeschylean plays.
The Oresteian Trilogy
Author: Aeschylus
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781539746379
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 152
Book Description
The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning the end of the curse on the House of Atreus and the pacification of the Erinyes. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theater trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. When originally performed, it was accompanied by Proteus, a satyr play that would have followed the trilogy. Proteus has not survived, however. In all likelihood the term "Oresteia" originally referred to all four plays; today it generally designates only the surviving trilogy. Many consider the Oresteia to be Aeschylus' finest work. Principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781539746379
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 152
Book Description
The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning the end of the curse on the House of Atreus and the pacification of the Erinyes. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theater trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. When originally performed, it was accompanied by Proteus, a satyr play that would have followed the trilogy. Proteus has not survived, however. In all likelihood the term "Oresteia" originally referred to all four plays; today it generally designates only the surviving trilogy. Many consider the Oresteia to be Aeschylus' finest work. Principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation.